Signs of spring are all around, especially during afternoons at Bobcat Ballpark, where the Texas State Baseball team prepares for another opportunity to make a run deep into the NCAA tournament.
Despite the SBC preseason poll having Texas State ranked sixth, the Bobcats have say last season’s woes are forgotten and the focus is all on the 2026 season.
“We’re excited about getting back to where we were; a lot of things go into that,” Texas State head coach Steven Trout said. “It’s about how you handle adversity … Last year we were dealt a ton of injuries. And different years, you get different personalities. So, I’m really excited about this group.”
Trout, now in his seventh season as Texas State’s coach, is coming off a year when his team notched road victories over Top-25 programs such as Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Texas. However, their overall record found them four games below .500. While the offense produced hits and flashed speed, the pitching and defense were suspect throughout their run.
Trout said his enthusiasm about this year’s roster stems from the teams mix of returning verterans and new faces.
“[We have] some key veterans coming back, some guys we got out of the [transfer] portal that have a lot of innings under their belt,” Trout said. “And this freshman class is really dynamic, really fired up for them to be on campus. We’re really excited about this team heading into opening day.”
One of those key veterans is senior third baseman Chase Mora, the only Bobcat named to the preseason All-SBC Team. Mora was one of only two Bobcats who started all 58 regular-season games in 2025 and led them in many offensive categories, including home runs, RBI and slugging percentage.
In addition to last season, Mora finds himself amongst the all-time greats from Texas State baseball history. In particular, his 31 career home runs places him third all-time, only six away from eclipsing former Major League Baseball MVP, Paul Goldschmidt.
“I’m very superstitious, so I don’t like to talk about things until they’re done,” Mora said. “So I just treat every day here as, I’m still the same guy as when I was a freshman.”
Mora is one of six returning starters who contributed much of the offensive production last spring, including a pair of sophomores in second baseman Dawson Park and outfielder Zachary Gingrich.
A question mark going into the season is where the pitching staff and bullpen stand.
Pitching coach Chad Massengale left the program last June while the Bobcats surrendered the most walks and fifth-most earned runs and home runs in the SBC. However, Trout said he is confident in his retooled staff and excited about new tech being employed to diagnose pitching issues and give his hurlers on the mound a boost.
“Coach [Josh] Blakley’s been with me since day one. He took over the pitching staff mid-way through last year and now has his first full year [with them] as well,” Trout said. “Coach [Austin] Wallace is new to the program, our pitching development and analytics guy. He does a really good job of helping [Blakley] on the pitching side with the technology piece as well as pitch design.”
Junior pitcher Jesus Tovar will come into the spring with over 60 innings pitched from the previous year. The Lefty from El Paso praised the work done with analytics and helping players like himself reach their full potential.
“It’s been awesome. I feel like there’s been a lot of development this year,” Tovar said. “With Wallace and [Blakely] helping us out with the numbers and pitch design, every single one of us has developed either one or two pitches, including myself. That really makes us feel more confident. We just attack now, every day.”
Tovar added that he feels good about the cutter and sinker he’s added to his pitch repertoire.
“Some of us, we almost reinvented ourselves with this new design that we have. Slow-mo cameras, trackman numbers, it’s been good,” Tovar said. “Things we never really considered. That has changed our pitching staff’s game.”
With new technology aiding the coaching staff, upgraded ballpark features, including a new video scoreboard, and more investments in the program, Trout is looking to close out his team’s SBC chapter and jettison the Bobcats into a new era.
“We want to go out one more time and leave our mark on the Sun Belt. That’s our mindset,” Trout said. “We want to leave winning the [Sun Belt] conference three out of the last seven seasons and head off into the Pac-12.”
Texas State will throw its first pitch of the 2026 season against Niagara University at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, at Bobcat Ballpark. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
